A HEROIN addict, with more than 20 previous convictions for burglary and theft, stole the wallet and bus pass of an elderly man who had loaned him money in the past.

A HEROIN addict, with more than 20 previous convictions for burglary and theft, stole the wallet and bus pass of an elderly man who had loaned him money in the past.

Darren Rooney, 31, was sentenced to six months in prison for the theft from Alistair Williamson, who lives in Coneyford Road, Shard End.

But Rooney was cleared of a more serious charge of robbery, where the 64-year-old victim said he had been threatened with a knife and "left for dead".

Mr Williamson had claimed at Birmingham Crown Court that Rooney had burst into his home, wearing a balaclava and put a bread knife to his throat. He said he was only able to identify his attacker because Rooney had calmed down his large Rottweiler Jesus, who usually acts as a guard dog.

He then claimed to have ripped off his mask during a struggle and spotted the addict he "had treated like a son".

But the jury did not believe Mr Williamson's version of events and instead believed Rooney's claim that he had stolen his jeans when the pensioner fell asleep.

Police swooped on a house in Shard House just minutes after the theft and found the wallet and pass that Rooney had stolen.

Sentencing Rooney, of Panther Croft, Shard End, who has previous convictions for burglary, theft and driving whilst disqualified stretching back to 1990, Recorder David Chinery said it was an " unpleasant" theft.

"It was against someone who had extended you a measure of trust in the past and who had freely leant you money," he added. "He had extended the hand of friendship."

Rooney's older brother Tony, aged 35, of Roebuck Close, in Shard End, was cleared of a charge of intimidation against Mr Williamson.